"It's Been a Long Time, I Shouldn't Have Left You"

So, it’s been about a week and a half although it feels like forever, hints the Aaliyah (Timbaland) reference. Anyways, I’m SUPER excited and here’s why…

A bike. Yes. A bike. Meaning I have transporte. Meaning I am mobile. I rode my new bike for the first time today home from the bike shop. I realized I haven’t actually rode a bike years. It was different cuz Since it’s my transportation I had to ride it in the street and traffic (in my opinion) is much more dangerous in Iberoamerica. Michol on the other hand is a pro as she used a bike for transportation for like 2 years in the states. This is her bike.

Becoming mobile was definitely a process. After investigation we found that cheap bikes should cost about 250 reais ($145). Eventually, the husband of our co-director Elisa (whom you’ll hear about in “my introduction post, part 2”) took us to a shop. Michol explained everything she wanted and he built her a new bike for base rate 330 reais. He told me he could rebuild me a used bike and paint it for 150. Since I was expecting to pay 100 more than that I decided to “pimp” my new ride (yes, I know that’s a derogatory term, still…) So, I got rain guards, lights, and matching basket and bike lock for 220 reais ($127.60)

If you couldn’t tell I’m completely enamored with my bike. It wasn’t what I was expecting, but I think I heart it more. All in all today was a good day and it’s not over yet. I bought another antimofo machine. It sounds gangsterly cool,lol, but it really just means anti-mildew. People keep asking the temperature so… here, it’s hot. And rains. Everyday. Not for long but rains. Hot with 100% humidity. Wana know what that looks like??

This container traps moisture in the air and is an expense I gladly pay. Before I started buying them, I went to put on a sweater but it smelled bad and I hadn’t even worn it and my papers were lightly damp. Since the mildew thing things have been much better. We also learned a better way to clean the floors. We’ve been squeegeeing cuz that’s just what you do here but cleaning anything but the bathroom and laundry room is hard cuz only those rooms have drains. We had these cloths and we were on our hands and knees, but we went to the farm (later post) and saw this woman put the cloth on the squeegee and mop that way. We were like, oh. So next time I mop, I’ll let you know how that goes.
Welp, that’s all for now. Ttys.